The late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill was considered to have deliberately been promoted as a replacement to Grace Kelly, as well as in 1959 she was proclaimed “Hollywood’s new Grace Kelly”. She also made a guest-appearance in Bonanza in both part episode (“The Pursued”) in 1966. In 1991, she appeared in the rotating form of the off Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom. Merrill has been married three times. In 1946, she wed Stanley M. Rumbough, Jr., an heir to the Colgate Palmolive toothpaste bundle and an entrepreneur. They had three kids (Nedenia Colgate Rumbough, David Post Rumbough (deceased), Stanley Rumbough III), but divorced in 1966. After that year, she wed Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson. In 1969, Merrill gave birth to your daughter, Heather, who predeceased her parents. In 1989, she married former performer Ted Hartley. Two of Merrill’s four kids (David, Heather) predeceased their mom.
Lifetime Achievement Award (American Academy of Dramatic Arts)
Movies
“The Sundowners”(1960), “The Young Savages” (1961), “The Courtship of Eddie's Father”(1963), “I'll Take Sweden”(1965), “Just Tell Me What You Want”(1980), “Caddyshack II”(1988), “Suture”(1993)
TV Shows
“Calamity Jane” (1960), “Bonanza”(1966), “On Your Toes”, “Wit & Wisdom”
At a net worth of over $5 billion, she is by far the richest actress in the world. While this list changes every year, she has consistently held the #1 spot every year.
4
Both she and her then husband Cliff Robertson played "Special Guest Villains" in Batman (1966).
She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.
7
Two of her three children with first husband Stanley Rumbaugh, Jr--a Colgate heir--are David (deceased) and Nina. She and second husband Cliff Robertson are the parents of daughter Heather Robertson (deceased).
In April 2005, she received a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
10
As an actress, socialite and model, she made the cover of Life magazine on January 11, 1960.
11
On the artistic side, she is a trustee of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and a director of the Museum of Broadcasting. She was also a presidential appointee to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
12
When one of her children was diagnosed with diabetes, she became one of the founders of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, which is dedicated to diabetic research. She is also a director of Project Orbis, a flying ophthalmological hospital which teaches advanced eye care and performs surgical techniques around the world.
13
On Broadway in the 1940s before moving to film, she was hardly ever stretched during her career, being typed rather severely as a tactful, altruistic wife in family fare or as an elegant socialite and patron of the arts in sophisticated fluff.
14
Spent her winters growing up at Mar-A-Lago, the largest and most elaborate estate in Palm Beach, Florida. As of this writing, Mar-a-Lago is owned by Donald Trump, who runs the estate as a private club and residence. Trump rescued the estate from condemnation in 1985 and painstakingly restored it to its former glory.
15
Her mother's first husband, Edward Bennett Close, later became the grandfather of actress Glenn Close.
16
Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1994.
17
Current husband Ted Hartley was a regular on the television series Peyton Place (1964). In 1989, they bought RKO Pictures, which they manage today. The studio's recent film was Mighty Joe Young (1998).
$5 Billion
